How not to create policy

Les Allamby, Director, Law Centre (NI)

The Department for Work and Pensions recently congratulated itself on stemming a potential political revolt on the reform of Incapacity Benefit and on the new Welfare Reform Bill. In doing so, the Department pointed out that it had involved stakeholders from an early stage in the design of changes and was open and transparent in its approach.

Having learned the simple lesson that process is important, it is difficult to understand the thinking in bringing forward the Freud review. Commissioned following a speech of the Secretary of State for Social Security in December 2006, a report on ‘Reducing Dependency, Increasing Opportunity: options for the future of welfare to work’ was produced eight weeks later. David Freud’s background as a banker who was well connected with Treasury ministers seemed hardly the appropriate credentials to reach measured conclusions on a crucial area of social security and employment policy.

The purpose of the review was to look at how government can use New Deal and other policies to meet its 80 per cent employment target. The diagnosis prescribed in the report is to outsource the work with the unemployed who have complex and demanding problems to the voluntary and private sector and leave Jobcentre Plus (and presumably Jobs and Benefits Offices in Northern Ireland) to concentrate on those closer to moving back to work. For lone parents, the medicine is a step-change towards the world of work with the recommendation that lone parents with a youngest child aged twelve or older move to Jobseeker’s Allowance as quickly as possible. In addition, the report argues for greater sanctions for lone parents with progressively younger children and people on Incapacity Benefit. These changes, it is suggested, should be phased in over the next decade.

The underlying rationale behind the report is the endorsement of the government’s philosophy that work is good for the working age population. The target of 80 per cent employment is extremely challenging. For lone parents the target is that 70 per cent of working age lone parents should be in work. At the moment, the figure for lone parents is 56.5 per cent. In Denmark, the figure stands at 80per cent . At this point, the real issues begin to emerge. Denmark has extensive family friendly policies extending across the welfare state into child-care, after school clubs, maternity and paternity rights, a more employer friendly focus on flexible working etc. This government has just begun to address these issues but falls a long way short of where we need to be in order to offer lone parents the type of infra structural support to make getting back to work a reality.

Moreover, to improve employment rates the government needs to focus on sustaining and retaining employment. In effect, this means policies that support those who become lone parents to retain existing work and that respond effectively to lone parents when faced with family ill-health and other problems without a partner to share the load. Sadly, this report pays little heed to the real issues that contribute to the relatively low rate of employment among lone parents.

DWP's own recently released research report, 'New Deal for Lone Parents: Non Participation Qualitative Research', found that for lone parents caring for their children took priority over all other factors in not participating in New Deal. In addition, childcare, personal circumstances, financial concerns, a lack of awareness and knowledge of New Deal and transport were all barriers to entering New Deal.

To meet its target, government will need to move 300,000 lone parents and a million more older people into work and reduce the numbers claiming Incapacity Benefit by one million. The new mix of stick and carrot without addressing infrastructure support will simply not work. Freud's diagnosis followed a series of workshops all held in London and Manchester. Nonetheless, we are likely to face the same approach in spite of neither analysis nor attention being paid to the position of lone parents and other claimants in Northern Ireland.

Hard to see the Freud report winning any accolades for process or substance.